Needle-cutter.



S. O. WADE.

NEEDLE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24.1915.

Patented J an. 16, 1917.

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SAMUEL 0. WADE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NEEDLE-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

Application'fil'ed June 24, 1915. Serial No. 36,051.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL O. WVADE, a citizen of the United States, residing atChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Needle-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to needle cuttersfor sharpening the so called fiber needles of phonographs and talking machines.

The general object of the invention is to provide simple, eiiicient and inexpensive means for producing a clean sharp out on a needle of this character.

Contributory to the general object it is my purpose to provide a construction such that the cutting parts may be mounted upon ordinary pivoted pliers in distinction to those more complicated and expensive pliers which are sometimes known as parallel motion pliers.

Again it is my purpose to provide aconstruction in which the cutting parts are pivotally connected to their respective jaws and to provide means for keeping the cutting parts at all times in alinement with each other without strain or undue friction, the cutting parts continuously alining themselves, so to speak, with the chord of the are made by the ends of thejaws in swinging toward and from each other. I

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a simple and advantageous stop for limiting the distance to which the needle may be inserted into the device preparatory to taking the out.

Other ancillary objects will be apparent from the following description.

I accomplish my objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a cutter embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view drawn to an increased scale showing the cutting parts and the associated ends of the jaws on which'they are mounted; Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the operating parts of the device. Fig. i is an end view looking toward the right in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5, Fig. i. Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 66, Fig. 5. Figs. 7 to 13 inclusive, are component elements of the device and Fig. 14 is a view of the pointed needle.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The upper jaw 1 and lower jaw 2 of the pliers are pivoted on the pin3 and provided respectively with handles 4 and 5. A stop 6 is mounted upon one of the aws for limiting the degree of closure.

A knife 8, shown separately in Fig. 7, has an eye 9 formed at its upper end for receiving a pin 10 by which said knife is pivoted to the upper jaw. This knife slides vertically along the inner face of a plate 11, shown separately in Fig. 9. This plate has an opening 12 for receiving the needle and permitting it to pass through to a point where it may be reached by the descending knife. The needle is backed up, that is, held in position and prevented from receding as the knife approaches, by the lower edge 13 of said opening. The plate 11 may thus be regarded as a faceplate having a port for receiving the end of the needle and supporting the same while the cut is being taken. Said face plate is fastened by a screw 15, or other suitable means, to a holder 16 shown separately in Fig. 12. In the particular design illustrated, this holder has two ears 17, which receive a pin 18 by which said holder is pivoted to the lower jaw as best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6.

A guide 20, shown separately in Fig. 10, is fastened to the holder 16 for guiding the needle 21 (see Fig. 14) to the opening 12 in the face plate 11. A. guide 22, shown separately in Fig. 8, is fastened by a screw 23 or otherwise to the upper part of face plate 11 and has lateral flanges 2 1 which bend around over the edges of the face plate and of the knife, backing up the knife and causing it to travel parallel with the face plate. The upper end 25 of said guide bends inward over the upper jaw 1 and forms a stop for limiting the spread of the jaws.

The knife is held in close frictional contact with the back of the face plate as the two travel relatively to each other by a spring 27 shown separately in Fig. 11. This spring is supported upon a cross bar 28 located in the upper jaw as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The spring is held seated upon said cross bar by a transverse pin 29 overlying the tail of said spring.

The distance to which the needle may be inserted into the holder is limited by a stop 31 shown separately in Fig. 13. This stop also seats upon the cross bar 21 and is held in position thereon by the spring 27 which overlies it as shown in Fig. 5. This method of mounting the needle stop and the knife spring is a very simple and advantageous one, the stop 31 requiring no other fastening means than the spring cooperating with the cross bar, and the spring being held in place chiefly by the pin 29 and the fact that the spring is configurated to grip the cross bar.

In operation, when the needle is inserted to take the cut, the inner end is arrested by the stop 31. The operator then slowly forces the jaws toward each other, causing the knife to descend and shave off a portion of the inner end of the needle. As the needle is firmly backed up by the edge 13 of the face plate, and as the cutting edge of the knife is held in close contact with the back of the face plate, the knife takes a good clean cut and produces a sharp point on the needle, the edge 13 preventing the formation of a sliver 0r feather edge at the needle point. It will be noted that in my construction the knife is pivotally connected to one jaw and the face plate and guide pivotally connected to the other jaw. The result is that these parts always aline themselves along the chord of the arc described by the ends of the jaws as they swing toward and from each other. As both of the parts are pivoted, the rotary movement about the pivots is equally distributed instead of being confined either at the knife or at the guide. In consequence the tool works with great smoothness and all cramping action such as might occur if the knife at any point of its travel assumed an oblique position relatively to the face plate is avoided. It will be noted that this is all accomplished in connection with pliers of the simple pivot type in distinction to those more expensive and complicated pliers in which the ends of the jaws are separate pieces and connected to the handles by a parallel motion. It will also be noted that in my construction the pivot points by which the knife and the face plate are connected to the jaws, are inside of the plane of the knife and face plate, that is to say, the knife and the face plate are pivoted to the jaws at a point closer to the main pivot of the pliers than the plane in which the knife and the face plate lie. The result is that the pressure exerted by the jaws in cutting is not in the direct plane of the out, but is inside thereof, that is, nearer to the central 1. In a needle cutter, the combination of V a .pair of pliers, a knife pivoted to the outer end of one of the jaws, a face plate pivoted to the outer end of the other of the jaws of the pliers, and a guide fastened to the face plate and having flanges passing around the edges of the knife blade for guiding the same parallel to the face plate.

2. In a needle cutter, in combination, a pair of simple pliers hinged at a single point, a knife blade pivotally connected to the end of one jaw of the pliers, a face plate cooperating with said blade and having an opening therein for receiving the needle, said face plate being pivoted to the other jaw of the pliers, and a guide having flanges for guiding the knife parallel to the face plate, said guide being fastened to said face plate.

3. In a needle cutter, in combination, a pair of pliers pivotally connected together, a cutting blade pivoted to one of the aws thereof, a face plate pivotally connected to the other jaw of the pliers and having an opening therein for receiving the inner end of the needle, one edge of said opening supporting the needle in opposition to the pressure of the blade in taking the cut, and a spring fastened to the jaw which supports the blade and pressing against the back of the blade to hold it in contact with the inner surface of the face plate.

4. In a needle cutter, in combination, a pair of pliers, a knife pivoted to one jaw thereof, a face plate pivoted to the other jaw thereof, a cross bar fastened to the jaw which supports the knife, and a spring fastened to said bar and abutting the back of the knife to hold the same pressed against the surface of the face plate, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

SAMUEL O. WADE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. D. 

